60 ORANGE COUNTT 



breeding, and which were then in their prime, and 

 among the best horses in England. 



" In selecting a mare," says Youatt, " it is, perhaps, 

 more difficult to select a good mare to breed from than 

 a good horse, because she should possess somewhat 

 opposite qualities. Her carcass should be long, in 

 order to give room for the growth of the foetus, and 

 yet with this there should be compactness of form and 

 shortness of leg. In frame, the mare should be so 

 formed as to be capable of carrying and well nourish- 

 ing her offspring ; that is, she should be what is called 

 ' roomy.' There is a formation of the hips which is 

 particularly unfit for breeding purposes, and yet which 

 is sometimes carefully selected, because it is considered 

 elegant ; this is the level and straight hip, in which 

 the tail is set on very high, and the end of the haunch 

 bone is nearly on a level with the projection of the hip 

 bone. Kearly the opposite form is the more desirable. 

 She requires such a shape and make as is well adapted 

 for the purpose she is intended for," that is to say, for 

 producing colts of the style and form she is intended 



